DeKalb Times

Huskies Hold Off Late Bowling Green Rally for Fourth Straight Road Win

The Northern Illinois University men's basketball team led wire-to-wire for the second time this week as it downed Bowling Green, 86-78, on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 4) at the Stroh Center. The Huskies opened up a double-digit lead in the opening six minutes of the contest and then held off a late second half run by the Falcons as they improved to 10-13 overall, 6-4 in the Mid-American Conference. 

David Coit (Columbus, N.J.) scored a game-high 21 points, Zarique Nutter (Newark, N.J.) added 18 points, Darweshi Hunter (Phoenix, Ariz.) chipped in 13 while Harvin Ibarguen (Cali, Colombia) had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Oluwasegun Durosinmi (Lagos, Nigeria) scored a career-high 10 points. 

The win was NIU's fourth consecutive on the road, the longest road win streak for the program since 2002-03. 

"Our starts, both on Tuesday at Western (Michigan) and today, were eerily similar," said NIU head coach Rashon Burno. "In our losses we have been chasing, so tweaking that mindset and making sure guys know that no one is going to wait for us, so you have to punch, keep punching and keep punching. You have to do that collectively, not just one guy, five guys have to do it.

"We showed some resiliency when they went zone and cut the lead to three. We had good looks; we just didn't make them. I'm happy for our guys, this team is about resiliency, grit and toughness, and the road brings that out in us. This is a team victory, a program victory, I'm happy for our guys."

NIU made six of its first seven shots as the Huskies led 13-7 in the early going. Ibarguen and Nutter each made a pair of buckets in the first five minutes to pace the Huskie offensive early. Nutter finished the game 8-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range. 

Nutter's second basket ignited a 10-0 Huskie run as the NIU lead grew to 21-7 with 13:28 to play in the half. Ibarguen added his third bucket of the half during the run before Hunter and Coit made back-to-back triples. 

NIU was in front 26-12 before Bowling Green used a 15-5 run to trim the Huskie advantage to just four, 31-27, with just under eight minutes to play before the intermission. 

A 6-0 burst by the Huskies pushed the NIU lead back to 10. Anthony Crump (Inkster, Mich.) and Nutter each scored at the rim and Durosinmi made a pair of free throws to give the Huskies a 37-27 lead with five minutes to play in the opening stanza. 

The NIU lead was 11 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Crump, but Bowling Green scored the final four points of the half as the Huskies took a 44-37 lead into halftime. Hunter and Nutter each had nine points to lead the way for NIU in the opening 20 minutes, Leon Ayers III had 13 for the Falcons. NIU shot 56.3 percent (18-of-32) from the field in the first half. 

Early in the second half, the NIU advantage grew to 11 on an alley-oop from Crump to Ibarguen, but Bowling Green answered with the next nine to pull within a pair, 51-49. 

Crump finished with eight points, six rebounds and six assists. 

Nutter connected on a trifecta to spark a 9-1 Huskies response as NIU took a 60-50 lead with 12 minutes left. Coit made a pair of free throws and Nutter finished twice through contact at the rim as the visitors increased their lead to 10. 

Durosinmi scored six-straight Huskie points and Hunter added a free-throw line jumper as the Huskies led 68-52. 

Bowling Green then used a 15-2 run to get within three, 70-67, with Coit doubled the NIU advantage back to a half-dozen with a triple with 3:36 left. 

After a bucket by the Falcons, Coit made another trifecta, giving NIU a 76-69 lead. Following a Bowling Green free throw, Coit knocked in another three, his fifth of the night, to put the Huskies in front by nine, 79-70, with a little over two minutes to play. 

Kaleb Thornton (Bolingbrook, Ill.) dished out a game-high nine assists with just two turnovers. 

Chandler Turner led Bowing Green with 21 points, Ayers finished with 20. 

NIU will return home to host Ohio on Tuesday, Feb. 7, at 7 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center. Tuesday's contest is sponsored by FNBO and will feature a Dash for Cash for a $1,000 Visa gift card. Tickets are available now by logging on to NIUHuskies.com/tickets or by calling the NIU Athletics Ticket Office at (815) 753-PACK (7225). 

Original source can be found here